Congressional district needs new leadership

Saturday

Jan 25, 2014 at 12:01 AM

The only sensible and defensible vote for 90 percent of the voters in this district is for Gwen Graham and the Democratic Party.

After reading the Jan. 22 letter attempting to defend Rep. Southerland (“Southerland represents region’s best interest”), I also feel compelled to reply. In her zeal to “set the record straight,” Ms. Anderson unfortunately has resorted to stereotypical partisan Republican tactics, including:

1. Blatant partisanship (“hand-delivered from Nancy Pelosi’s political office”). Obviously, any representation of an opinion differing from the Karl Rove/Ted Cruz wing of politics must be orchestrated by the liberal “Commie” Democrats.

2. Obfuscation of facts (“Democrats in the Senate have refused to even allow many of these House-passed bills to come to the floor”). That ignores the fact that most legislation proposed by the House included language to defund the ACA (labeled “Obamacare” by these same Republicans to distort the legislations’ conservative think tank roots) and other non-budgetary amendments such as restricting women’s rights, further cuts to safety net programs, etc. Further distortion (“Senate Democrats refused to fund the government during the shutdown”), ignored the fact that the government shutdown was a singularly Republican initiative and the GOP’s publicity-driven attempts to fund favored components of spending was only after the vast majority of all Americans turned on them for using these tactics.

3. Character attacks (“Gwen Graham ... has proved more likely to toe the company line of Nancy Pelosi and the liberals who are funding her campaign”). What proof is there of these statements? Where is the voting record or other tangible components to prove these allegations?

Ms. Anderson also attempts to convince readers that the millionaire Koch Brothers PAC-funded Southerland is “one of us” and “always” ignores the interest of the extreme right-wing folks who are funding his campaign, and that he “votes … based on what’s in the interest of the people” in his district, many of whom are uninsured, underemployed or unemployed, existing on fixed incomes falling behind inflation and otherwise disadvantaged by the income inequality gap promoted and nurtured by the GOP agenda over the past three or more decades.

While I agree that Congressman Southerland is a friendly “Christian” man who seems genuinely interested in the concerns brought to him in person, his voting record speaks volumes about his true “values” and his focus on the politically popular agenda items of the elite plutocracy that promotes and sustains his career in Washington. We can only wonder what quid pro quo was rendered for his involvement in the local fishing issues mentioned in Ms. Anderson’s letter. Perhaps some well-placed campaign contributions?

The Florida 2nd Congressional District needs representation for the “99 percent” who desperately need health insurance, jobs that pay a living wage and a fair tax code that ends the taxpayer subsidies to the wealthy and reverses the continuing growth of the wealth gap between the 1 percent and the rest of us. It is time for the political pendulum to swing to the left for a while and rebalance our society to return real opportunity to the working class and an achievable path to prosperity for everyone willing to make the effort before we become a certifiable Third World nation. The only sensible and defensible vote for 90 percent of the voters in this district is for Gwen Graham and the Democratic Party.

KEN FRANKLIN Panama City

• • •

I would like to take the time to respond to Ms. Anderson about her Jan. 22 letter to the editor (“Southerland represents regions interests”).

She stated that Steve Southerland was trying to protect jobs and that all attacks are being made from the liberal side of the coin. While I understand that she supports him, I must say that I do not. He has not benefited the North/Northwest Florida Panhandle since he’s been in office. About the only positive stance he has had has been about the fishing industry. Why would anyone vote for health care when they know that they will have lifetime health care paid for by the U.S. taxpayers? It seems ironic that he voted it down since he will be covered.

If he has tried to create so many long-lasting employment opportunities, then where are they?

If we want to blame anyone about the government shutdown, we should blame every single one of those voted in. There is nothing more appalling than the bunch of babies who have been voted in crying and acting a fool about the fact they have not gotten their way. John Boehner is a poor excuse for a House speaker and has not done any good to the U.S. since he took the position.

Blaming Democrats for everything has gotten us to where we are today — nowhere! If these people voted into office would work together we would be better off. While I applaud Ms. Anderson’s support, I do not appreciate the blame game going on or the lack of proper information being expressed in her writing. I am an independent.

ALEXIS LILLY Panama City Beach

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